Soaring home prices in Arizona and across the country are forcing many who’ve spent years saving for a down payment to put their dreams of homeownership on hold.
“I would love to be in a home, I would love for my boys to be able to spread their wings a little bit, play in the backyard,” said Stephanie Land, a teacher in the Phoenix area.
She said she's given it her best shot to try and find a home for her family. She's looked at new homes with long waiting lists and rising values, and toured existing homes for months. A similar result playing out over and over.
“Basically, the house would go on the market and that same weekend there would be twenty --maybe, even more -- offers on the house, way over asking price,” she said.
It’s a scenario leaving many trying to stick to a budget, wondering what to do as they not only compete against other individuals like herself, but also with investors snatching up properties at every turn.
“It feels like a lot of homes are going to investors who are coming in with cash offers, and people who do have budgets don’t really have a chance,” said Land.
According to a recent report from Redfin, investors are buying up properties in waves.
Investors spent a record $77 billion on home purchases nationally over the last six months, according to RedFin's data, buying nearly 55,000 homes in places like Miami, Las Vegas, and Phoenix.
“It’s become big business, and there are a lot of huge money sources coming in to buy the home, and either flip the home or create a rental property,” said Scott Kiburz, a managing broker for Keller Williams Realty.
With a larger institutional presence, an already tight housing market could grow even tighter.
So how short are we on homes?
“If nobody else listed their home today for the next thirty days, we would be out of homes in less than two weeks,” said Kiburz.
He said even with the number of apartments and other housing developments under construction right now, the demand right now is too great. Plus, with federal interest rates still low, the housing market in Phoenix is likely to remain on an expensive trajectory in the future.
“Definitely feels like I missed the boat a little bit, I’m hoping it swings back around,” said Land.
